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Google launches mobile-optimized search algorithm

authored by Amy Paxson

Is your website mobile optimized? It should be, if you want to remain visible on the search engines. Last week, Google rolled out their latest algorithm. There has been quite a lot written about it by tech bloggers and industry writers – referring to it as “Mobilegeddon” or the “Mobile-pocalypse.” And while it’s not quite the end of the world, companies with websites (which is pretty much everyone) should be paying attention.

Here’s the gist: Google results will favor mobile-optimized sites on any searches made on smartphones or tablets. In other words, if someone searches for your company on a smartphone, and your website is not mobile optimized, you won’t come up in the listings.

These days, having a mobile optimized site should be a no brainer. But apparently, that’s not the case. In testing 25,000 sites, 10,000 of them failed Google’s mobile readiness test, including major players like drugstore.com and the Department of Homeland Security. You can test you own website to see if passes muster—Google Mobile Friendly Test.

Google spokeswoman Krisztina Radosavljevic-Szilagyi elaborated on this development. "As people increasingly search on their mobile devices," she said, "we want to make sure they can find content that's not only relevant and timely, but also easy to read and interact with on smaller mobile screens." Makes sense.

The implication is that if you’re site isn’t mobile-optimized now, it’s time to consider a redesign. And of course, we can help you with that